More Than 70% Of Consumers Have Never Used Voice Search To Make A Purchase

People who embrace voice search aren’t using it to shop. Some 71.5% say they have never used voice search to make a purchase. This marks a sharp reversal from findings in a survey conducted last year, where 51.9% of respondents said they had used voice search to find information related to a purchase.

About 19% of those who use voice search to make a purchase said they use a voice app such as Dominos or Uber. The study also notes that few people are comfortable making purchases through a voice assistant. In fact, only 12.6% said they are “super comfortable.”

The findings — from the online NetElixir survey, conducted from February 12 to February 15, 2018 — found that 63% conduct voice searches on their smartphones, compared with 35% on smart speakers at home. About 46% said they use voice search at least once daily.

Thirty-eight percent of consumers surveyed said they are accepting of ads or sponsored content while using voice search when it’s relevant to them. About 25.3% would welcome an ad when researching a product, 22.4%, when asking for advice, and 16.5%, when making a purchase. Only 7.2% said they would never welcome advertising.

When asked what type of voice assistant they use, 20.5% said they use Siri, Alexa, Google, Home, or Cortana. Nearly 61% said they never use a voice-activated assistant, and 17.8% said have used one, but don’t anymore.

While a small amount of people use voice search, 17.2% of those participating in the surveys said they use voice search multiple times daily, 29.1% use it daily, 24% use it weekly, 7.1% use it monthly, 17.7% use it rarely, and 4.9% never use voice assistants.

Smartphones are the most popular device to use voice search, nearly 64% of respondents said — including Siri on iPhones, Google Assistant on Android devices, and Cortana on Windows Phones. Dedicated home assistants like Amazon Echo came in second in this study. Smartwatches lagged at 5.3%. Among respondents, 8.8% said they don’t use a voice assistant.

Some 64% have been using voice search for two years or less, while 21.3% have begun to use them in the past six months. About 37% of those polled have used voice search for more than two years. Only 9.9% have used voice assistants for five years or more.

The reasons why people use voice assistants vary. Some 50.4% say they want hands-free communication, 42.8% want a faster way other than typing to communicate, 14.9% want the answer read back to them, 4.3% want better results, 4.1% want good conversation, and 1.8% say none of the above.